Living outside the box – I am an Official Empowered Empath

While this is my Year of Water it’s also my year of stepping outside the box and doing stuff that scares me. I started with the seminar in December and let me just say… that was only the beginning, baby, and I’m on a roll!

I’ll be telling you more about the classes I mentioned in my Year of Water post linked above … oh, probably in May, since I will then be a Master and eligible to go further into practice and teaching.

Today, I’m going to talk about… well, today!

I attended a kick-ass seminar to become an “Empowered Empath”… and guess what? I not only learned some stuff I didn’t know… I learned some stuff I did! Or rather, I remembered. Let me explain.

Years ago, I drew this picture. Great art, it isn’t. But here’s the thing…

I know things. 

Yeah, that’s actually the point. 

First of all, the day was for empaths (a person with the paranormal ability to apprehend the mental or emotional state of another individual, according to Google). Of course, it stands to reason that we know things. So, it was totally validating on that point.

However, after lunch, with our tummies full of Thai soup, lemon-water and a dessert of fresh fruit, we turned to more serous (and personal) matters. We shared stories of frustrations, griefs and joys. All were welcome to join in, of course, and so I did. And this is where I realized… and I mean really realized…

I KNOW THINGS.

I know things because of this blog and all of you… and yeah, maybe some of it I knew all along. Who knows? Who cares?

The point is… well, I’ve already said it. Know. things. Like what, you may ask? Let me tell you.

Like how I never hurry. Or, perhaps I should say, I don’t hurry anymore. I used to hurry… all the time. I got up at the last possible moment, got to work 1 minute before 9, clocked out at precisely 5, practically ran to my car, ran to the store to pick up dinner because I hadn’t planned properly, and hurried to cook it. Maybe the kids had something planned that I had to rush to after dinner…maybe not. Didn’t matter. I rushed. Everywhere.

Hurry, hurry, hurry.

Know what happened? I wasn’t ready when clients came in. I tripped over curbs, burned myself at the stove, and fell into bed exhausted at night.

Now, I still may be exhausted when I go to bed but it’s not because I was hurrying.

I wake up 15 minutes before I need to in the morning so I can sit in bed, sip coffee and coo at the cats and/or check out Facebook.

I leave for work 15-30 minutes before I need to so I can stop for photos and share them on social media (all my links on the right margin of this blog – my photos show up on Instagram – take a look and visit, any time!).

I am almost-always at least 15 minutes early for work. I can check email, catch my breath and plan my day.

I may not want to stay late but I’m flexible to do so now, because I know that things happen and if a client walks in 5 minutes before I’m set to leave, I have room to maneuver.

I may or may not stop at the store for dinner but one thing’s for sure, I’m not running. I’m walking. Carefully.

In short, I take my time. Always.

I shared this with the group today and they were… thankful. They said thank you! Can you believe it? Something I said… and do every day… helped.

And then, we touched on guilt. I mentioned The Work of Byron Katie, which I wrote about last July. It’s about questioning thoughts. There are four questions but I actually only mentioned the first question because it was all I could remember off the top of my head:

Is it true?

This question morphed into an incredible discussion.

And I realized, as I sat there, that I had contributed something of value. It was one thing I’ve figured out all by myself (about time) and one thing I’ve learned from a super-wise woman (Katie).

See, I know things.

Our facilitator (Hi MB!) gave us a gift… which is the journal on my featured photo. I *am* here to live out loud! It fits for today, so I’m sharing it. Happy Saturday!